Allen Dick wrote:
> Although there has been some argument here o the list, it has been mostly quite
> civil and good-humoured and there has been a good exchange of viewpoints.  Ideas
> have come up which have been of use to everyone.  Just because some think the
> whole 4.9 idea is snake oil does not mean that it is snake oil.  The proof is
> still not in.  I, for one, would love to be proven wrong.
> Although some would perhaps like to turn a discussion of ideas into a heated
> personal conflict, I think that personal conflicts are a distraction from a
> topic at hand. Should it not be possible for a list member to attack an idea
> without being perceived as attacking those who hold it, or even the originator
> of the idea?  Even if push comes to shove, the central idea should not be lost.

Excellently stated. Unfortunately there are some topics that elicit more
a a religious fervor than scientific or even a commonsensical response.
And we all do not like to be shown to be wrong in our ideas, however
arrived at. It is just that some do take it to be personal and gather up
their marbles and leave. Most of us that have been around on this list
for any length of time have been agreed with and disagreed with. Some
are pillars of the Beekeeping community, like George Imire. I like it
that they stay with it and take their hits and rationally respond. But
many have left or have become lurkers, which is fine but does not
contribute to informed discussion. Having your ideas challenged never
hurt anyone. I know I am still intact. My ego may need a few bandaids.

> The above also makes me wonder:  What happens if someone takes 'retrogressed' or
> is it 'regressed' bees and shakes them onto a plain wax starter, lets the colony
> develop, then does the same thing again and again?  Do they stay 'regressed' or
> 'retrogressed' or go back to the 5.2 size that most of us observe in natural
> colonies.

I appreciate the question since I was thinking along those lines for my
own hives. I am not too happy with going to 4.9 especially since my bees
accepted the Dadant- which was around 5 or a bit larger, with no
problems. The "natural" cell sizes for different races of bees was
posted here a while back and shows a range of sizes for the same bees.

http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0009C&L=bee-l&P=R1230&m=32971

If you provide a strip of commercial foundation as a starter, will the
cells built by the bees below the foundation be the same size as the
starter or will they be "natural".

Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME